This invention relates to a mounting apparatus for an energy absorbing motor vehicle steering column.
A mounting apparatus for an energy absorbing motor vehicle steering column described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,081 includes a metal mounting bracket rigidly attached to a tubular mast jacket of the steering column and a pair of metal capsules in slots in the mounting bracket. Each capsule is secured to the mounting bracket by a plurality of injection molded plastic pins and rigidly clamped to a body of the motor vehicle by hanger bolts. A force attributable to an impact on the steering column fractures the injection molded plastic pins and releases the mounting bracket from the capsules for linear translation as a unit with the mast jacket through an energy absorbing collapse stroke of the latter. After the mounting bracket releases from the capsules it engages a channel-shaped guide on the vehicle body above the steering column which defines the path followed by the mast jacket during its collapse stroke. In the interval before the mounting bracket engages the channel-shaped guide, the path traversed by the mast jacket is uncontrolled. A mounting apparatus according this invention positively controls the path of the mast jacket from the onset of its energy absorbing collapse stroke and is, therefore, an improvement over the mounting apparatus described in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,081.
This invention is a new and improved mounting apparatus for an energy absorbing motor vehicle steering column including a molded structural plastic honey comb mounting bracket having a center passage therethrough around a mast jacket of the steering column. The top of the plastic mounting bracket is clamped flush against a flat panel on a body of the motor vehicle by a pair of spring washers supported below respective ones of a pair of platforms on the mounting bracket by a pair of rigid studs on the vehicle body. The rigid studs are exposed through a pair of vertical slots in the mounting bracket facing an upper or outboard end of the steering column. In some embodiments of the mounting apparatus according to this invention, the spring washers release the plastic mounting bracket for linear translation as a unit with the mast jacket through an energy absorbing collapse stroke of the latter with the path traversed by the mast jacket being defined by the vertical slots in the mounting bracket and the flat panel above the mounting bracket. In another embodiment of the mounting apparatus according to this invention, the plastic mounting bracket remains stationary and the path traversed by the mast jacket during its collapse stroke is defined by the center passage in the plastic mounting bracket.